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Overview

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.

Until the taps run dry.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

About the Author

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including The Unwind Dystology, The Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and ChallengerDeep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his newest series Arc of a Scythe, is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. The father of four children, Neal lives in California. Visit him at Storyman.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.

Jarrod Shusterman is the author of the short story Undevoured in the bestselling Unwind Dystology. He writes for film and TV, and recently sold an original TV series to NBC/Universal. His talents extend to directing films and commercials, and he was the story producer on the MTV movie Zedd - Moment of Clarity. Jarrod lives in Los Angeles with his pet wolf, and can be found on Instagram @JarrodShusterman.

Editorial Reviews

…[Dry is] a propulsive action thriller about our failure to grapple with climate change. Suffused with zombie-movie dread, it's told in the present tense, adding to the feeling of immediacy…The depiction of our collective blindness to the environmental devastation we're wreakingas well as the irresponsible way mass media cover itis gripping.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

“It’s so quiet now,” I say. “It almost makes you forget what’s out there.” “Nothing out there but people,” Henry points out. “People can me monsters. Whether it’s just their actions, or whether it’s who they really are, it doesn’t matter. The result is the same.” … “Sometimes you have to be the monster to survive.”
Southern California is desperate for water, but there’s nothing left and the tap has officially run dry. Neighbors begin to turn on each other and chaos is rising across the state. Alyssa’s desperate to keep herself and her brother safe after her parents don’t return from a mission to get water. She pairs with with unlikely allies in hopes of surviving. Dry is a gripping story of the lengths you’ll go to survive, and if it’s possible to life with yourself in the aftermath.
Things I Liked
I really loved that we got so many different POVs throughout the story, not only with the main characters, but also the snapshot chapters that showed what was happening around other parts of Southern California. The writing felt so personal, like a journal. It made it easy to feel like you were in the story.
The whole book is really a warning for global warming, climate change, and the inaction that doomed an entire state. And I loved that they addressed how the media decides what’s newsworthy and important enough to get coverage.
I don’t know if I’ve ever been so anxious while reading a book. It was so eerie and thrilling it felt like a horror movie, waiting for other shoe to drop. And the overwhelming relief when you get some semblance of safety was this high that made this book a true rollercoaster.
Things I Didn’t Like
I didn’t really love or connect with any of the characters. And it’s a testament to the incredible writing that I was still so emotionally invested in the story. I thought Jacqui was kinda just mean and abrasive - I get it’s literally an end-of-the-world situation, but I didn’t necessarily want to root for her. Kelton had his moments, but he definitely did some sketchy things. Henry was a bit of a know-it-all and a try-hard. Overall, I didn’t really latch onto anyone. I appreciate their selfishness and self preservation, but it just didn’t really connect to the characters.
I had so many intense emotions while reading this that I actually had to pause a few times to collect myself. Neal and Jarrod Shusterman infuse drama and intensity into this collapsing world in a way that puts your heart in an aching state of desperation. Dry is really like no other book I’ve ever read, and it a truly unique experience.
I received a copy of the book from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

Mel-Loves-Books

5 months ago

“Sometimes you have to be a monster to survive.”
What would you do to survive? Would you deprive or steal from your neighbors? Your friends? Strangers? What about for your family to survive? How far would you go? Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman had me asking myself these questions. The premise of the book is basically that California runs out of water and everything goes down hill from there. Following this group of teens through the crisis was gut wrenching, and so much of how the story was written seemed very realistic to me. I could see how things could happen just like this. It was very chilling. Dry is a book I may never forget and for that reason I am giving it 5 stars.

Anonymous

10 months ago

Thrilling, blood rushing.
Feels like every time I just finished a chapter I did my hardest work out.

WhisperingStories

10 months ago

This is a really well written title with a rock solid premise – California has run out of water. Everyone sort-of knew it was coming but was sure that there would be some plans in place to make sure that nobody would suffer once the taps stopped working, this was their biggest mistake.
The story follows to lives of a group of kids from very different backgrounds and how they cope in this disaster. Alyssa and her brother, Garett, are from a normal suburban household and weren’t prepared for this at all but they adapt well to the situation while Kelton, their next door neighbour is from a doomsday prepping family. In their search for safety and water, they meet a couple of other teens who I felt weren’t as well developed as characters so I struggled to sympathise with them.
The book flips perspectives between the characters, which is something I love – seeing the same story through the eyes of everyone involved.
I enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book much more than the ending, I would have much rather there had be a sequel and the story ended in a more satisfying way than the current ending that I felt was a bit rushed and left too many loose ends. That said, I have read other books by the author Neal Shusterman and hold him to a very high standard so I might just be being picky here…

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Every time I read books by Neil I have to take a break from reading, go on a little soul searching and drink a lot of water to keep my brain from frying.

Stacy_Renee

More than 1 year ago

I read this fast-paced young adult dystopian for the 'cli-fi aka climate fiction' PopSugar prompt. The premise is that after years of drought, water flow to California just stops, leaving millions of people without water.
Alyssa and her little brother, Garret, aren't prepared and when they run out of water, their parents head to the coast where desalination machines have been set up. When they don't return, Alyssa and her brother realize that they have to do something. Luckily, their across-the-street neighbors are 'preppers' that have a son, Kelton, who just happens to have a big crush on Alyssa. Coming together for the sake of survival, they maneuver chaos and desperate characters alike as they search for water and a safe place.
I feel like this is a very important read that poses a lot of important questions about what would happen if a crisis or disaster were to strike.
What would you do if there was no more water? How would you survive? How would your neighbors survive? How would society as a whole be affected?
It's good to be prepared, but it won't always make things better. It's nearly impossible to 'prep' for every single scenario and it's likely that it'll all go south and not as you planned anyway. Kelton found this out pretty quickly!
This is the second novel by Neal Shusterman that I've read and I think I'm seeing a trend of defying the status quo and writing about real problems that affect us as a country and a society. I'm looking forward to reading more!

runnergirl83

More than 1 year ago

What happens when there is no more water? There is a drought and a water shortage. Then the Colorado river is cut off from California and there is no more water. This novel rotates between characters as they struggle to survive and become increasingly desperate for the basic necessity of water.
This was an interesting idea, water is such a basic need, it makes you wonder what you would do if suddenly the facet no longer turned on. How much water do you have around the house? What would you do?
The sad thing about this story is while there is a drought going on, they didn't need to cut the river off and cause people to suffer and die. And it takes days for people to step in and help.
I found myself drinking more water as I read this book.
I will pick up a book if I see Neal Shusterman's name on it as it's going to be a good, imaginative story. His books seem to be consistently good.

Right before I started this book it had been raining non-stop where I live and I'd been so angry about it. But once I started this book, all that dried up really quickly. (See what I did there? lol) This wasn't anything I had been expecting, but it definitely changed my mind about the rain that we'd been getting.
Life for Alyssa was very normal up until the Tap Out. The water was scarce to begin with, but then it just was gone completely. And suddenly, things begin changing. Alyssa's street becomes a place crazed for water or anything to help with their thirst. It doesn't help that her parents have gone missing either. Now she is stuck making decisions for herself and her little brother. Decisions that could mean life or death.
If you had asked me at the beginning if I was enjoying this, I would have said yeah. If you asked me towards the middle I would have said ehhhh. If you had asked me towards the end I wouldn't have answered you because I was immersed in the book and didn't pay attention to anyone or anything else until I finished. It kind of dragged for me towards the middle, but that's the only complaint I have. There were a couple of times where I had to take breaks so I wouldn't quit reading it. I wish it would've kept the same momentum the entire book.
As for the characters, I can't say I loved them all, but they were all so well developed and they all felt like they were there for a reason. I loved that they went through everyone's POV as well. This is such a bad situation and with some of the things they went through, it was good to see how a different character was handling it.
There's not very many books anymore that can surprise me (which is pretty sad lol) but this one did on many occasions. There were times when I had to say out-loud "OMG OMG OMG OMG" or "DAMN" because I wasn't expecting what happened to happen. I haven't been THAT surprised in a long time.
For someone who doesn't like dystopians, this was not something I expected to like.They make me paranoid and I start thinking of how I could have survived in that type of situation and how I should be preparing. This one was no different. It made me realize how much water we take for granted. So of course, I had to go and check that everything we had drink wise was still in the fridge. And I had to get some water while there. And anything that can make me feel something like THAT, I know it was a definite winner for me. I also liked the fact that it was a science fiction novel but it never went too deep into the sciencey part of it. As someone who doesn't really care for science and math, that would have thrown me off, but this one never makes it too teachy and for that I was grateful.
This read was out of my comfort zone, but it definitely proved that sometimes reading something that's different than your norm is a good thing. It wasn't perfect, but it made my heart race and it made me get up several times to get something to drink when we've been nowhere close to a drought for weeks where I am. This surprising read will make you check your fridge and start preparing now, just like I had to.

I really got into this novel. The more I read, the more I could visualize this novel actually transpiring. As the water shortage flung individuals into a state of despair, they each fought for survival and would do anything to live through another day. As the book came to the close, I was disappointed in the ending. I felt it was a bit drawn out and the closure was just not what I expected from this novel. The novel did make me appreciate water more.
I brought this novel to work with me as I wanted needed to finish it. I read a bit before walking into work and I had hoped, there would be some time during the day, to slip in a chapter or two. Students saw the book by my bag and as I was explaining the novel, I had a few students look up and you should have seen their faces. Concern, shock and bewilderedness was plastered upon them. I had to laugh as I listened to them, as they actually thought what I was talking about was a news story. They didn’t realize I was talking about a book and they were worried about the individuals in California. I thought this was a priceless moment as I had them engrossed in this novel and in the author.
I liked that the novel begins immediately with the issue at hand, they have run out of water. Unable to fill up their dog’s water bowl, the family begins to inquire why their house is suddenly out of water. This issue begins small and then multiples. We also have the preppers in this novel, the individuals who has been stocking and preparing for the worse-case scenario to hit. Some individuals think of these people as strange or even over-the-top but they are the individuals who have everything that they need. I always thought I wanted to be a prepper but now, I’m not really sure.
In a crisis, most people will behave erratically, so when this emergency occurs, individuals start to look out for themselves. They begin looting, they begin searching for any available source and soon, their searches go deeper and are more creative. It started to make me think about how creative I would be in such a crisis. You really need to look outside the box as some of these citizens did to stay alive.
This was an entertaining and a compelling novel. This is my first novel that I have read by Neal Shusterman, although I have many other novels on my TBR list by him. I highly recommend this one. 4.5 stars

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